I Need Work Help :-/ considering training as an electrician in Scotland

[James7373]

Hi all, I'm new to this and not sure if this is the right place to put this if not please tell me where to go?. I'm 16 and live in Scotland thinking about becoming an electrician however.... I've seen alot online few people saying its great and are making££££££ but I'd say 90% is negative people on average wages saying its rubbish. I'd appreciate If you could tell me the reality and whether or not I should get into the trade if not what other job/trade should I be going for so far I've looked at going offshore and trades. Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Dan]

Welcome to the forum thanks for taking time to register. I'm not an electrician myself so cant answer your question.

What I will say is if you put the work in, any trade can pay well. You will need a lot of experience before going alone so try find an apprenticeship and a steady income. It's not all about the cash jobs. It's about investing in your income long-term.

You have to make sure you're listening to the right people too. If you hear about earnings from somebody bragging they're probably talking out their arse. Ignore the income side of things and try and get stability instead. Given your age you're going to see loads of companies come and go, so you want find one invested in the future and not one that's just chasing a particular government grant or scheme etc like the solar firms that have all gone bump now.

I'd imagine up there you're not too far from some off shore wind farm firms. Those won't be going anywhere soon. We will end up relying on those more than oil during your generation IMO.

 

[James7373]

Welcome to the forum thanks for taking time to register. I'm not an electrician myself so cant answer your question.

What I will say is if you put the work in, any trade can pay well. You will need a lot of experience before going alone so try find an apprenticeship and a steady income. It's not all about the cash jobs. It's about investing in your income long-term.

You have to make sure you're listening to the right people too. If you hear about earnings from somebody bragging they're probably talking out their arse. Ignore the income side of things and try and get stability instead. Given your age you're going to see loads of companies come and go, so you want find one invested in the future and not one that's just chasing a particular government grant or scheme etc like the solar firms that have all gone bump now.

I'd imagine up there you're not too far from some off shore wind farm firms. Those won't be going anywhere soon. We will end up relying on those more than oil during your generation IMO.

Hi dan thanks for the reply mate! Yeah I'm close the the offshore stuff basically I want a pretty well paid hands on career and the things I've looked at are on rigs where people say you waste your life on a lump of metal in the north sea and trades being it's pretty much average wage. You said your not a spark what do you do if u dont mind me asking and I'll have a look at wind like you said and do you have any other recommendations? Thanks.

 

[Dan]

I do a bit of this and that with website stuff. I'm just here for the banter ?

I'm guessing wind farms are largely built on land. Not actually sure where! But those need connecting to land and that's where I'd try to get work. I assume some sort of sub stations that need maintenance and whatnot. Not actually sure you know. Something we should look into as a forum maybe. Or those already doing it share the love.

I would imagine to work on a rig X months of the year is akin to signing up to the army. And both are horrible trades that rape the earth. But both needed I guess.

Maybe find a local firm who's more family orientated and try and get an apprenticeship or something with good transferable qualifications at the end of it.

If I were to start out again I would get into robotics, programming, and autonomy. Not sure what actual qualifications I would need (or whether I would need any, knowing me I would make my own somehow rather than try fit the trend) to do that though.

If you ever have spare cash buy a Raspberry Pi (little computer) and some programming kits. Make some stuff, see what you can do with that.

Every single thing in the future will be connected and programmers will be needed for it all. There will be a point the trade becomes the shelf stacking of its time. Actual shelf stackers will be programmed and be robotics if exist at all (who needs shelves ordering online eh). But even then there will be a need for head honcho programmers who check other programmers code.

 

[James7373]

I do a bit of this and that with website stuff. I'm just here for the banter ?

I'm guessing wind farms are largely built on land. Not actually sure where! But those need connecting to land and that's where I'd try to get work. I assume some sort of sub stations that need maintenance and whatnot. Not actually sure you know. Something we should look into as a forum maybe. Or those already doing it share the love.

I would imagine to work on a rig X months of the year is akin to signing up to the army. And both are horrible trades that rape the earth. But both needed I guess.

Maybe find a local firm who's more family orientated and try and get an apprenticeship or something with good transferable qualifications at the end of it.

If I were to start out again I would get into robotics, programming, and autonomy. Not sure what actual qualifications I would need (or whether I would need any, knowing me I would make my own somehow rather than try fit the trend) to do that though.

If you ever have spare cash buy a Raspberry Pi (little computer) and some programming kits. Make some stuff, see what you can do with that.

Every single thing in the future will be connected and programmers will be needed for it all. There will be a point the trade becomes the shelf stacking of its time. Actual shelf stackers will be programmed and be robotics if exist at all (who needs shelves ordering online eh). But even then there will be a need for head honcho programmers who check other programmers code.

Ahhhhh well my dads a lorry driver and I work with him now and again this is kinda when I wanted to go offshore on the rigs and one of the guys that worked there drove me home bc my dad dose a run to Glasgow on that day and I was talking to him and he said his brother was like a wind farm electrical technician or something and he said he made like 60kish if I remember and In my head I was like yh I want to go into oil so didn't really ask any questions about it. Fs I should have listened ??

 

[Dan]

Both very handy guys to bounce ideas off of! Would have loved to have had that chance when I was 16. A couple of good solid trades there. And experience guys. Pester them both with loads more questions neither will mind. It's admirable. And bloody rare to find a lad 16 interested in planning out their life like that.

 

[James7373]

Both very handy guys to bounce ideas off of! Would have loved to have had that chance when I was 16. A couple of good solid trades there. And experience guys. Pester them both with loads more questions neither will mind. It's admirable. And bloody rare to find a lad 16 interested in planning out their life like that.

Yeah definitely! Just did a little research most techniciany jobs are electrical and there are some that have some good pay(60ish) I'm definitely going to research this more. Thanks alot mate if it wasn't for you bringing up wind I probably never would have re visited the idea???

 

[Dan]

Oil will always be around but like what cars did to horses (made just the rich have and use them) electric cars will do to oil fuel derived. The rich will use them.

We have a gas engineers forum too; www.plumbersforums.net. But fracking is the new technology in that industry and that won't wash over quickly. Couple of hundred years and we won't have much oil or gas based anything IMO.

Go electric. And aim for something programming based. Even if it means getting normal quals via apprenticeship and then in spare time go college for programming and then hobby build some robots with your raspberry Pi.

Search YouTube for raspberry Pi robotics.

A trade in 50 years time will need all of your skills.

And when you're 66 (in 50 years time) avergage human life will be 110ish and retirement 95 I bet.

Let's oceans 11 you and see if we can pull this off lol

 

[martin mcguinness]

If you can get an apprenticeship take it as its a trade that you are always learning something new but only get out of it what you are willing to put in. There are days like any that you will wish you had done something else but don't let any of that put you off as most of the guys on here will let you know they have made a good living of being an electrician.
You must also have a strange almost warped sense of humour to do this job as most should agree, be able to take a good ---- taking and jump on anyones mistakes like a pack of dogs on a 3 legged cat.
Maybe that's just the guys on here
But to be serious if you get a chance go for it and we might take the Mickey but we do have each others backs most of the time

 

[littlespark]

Do an apprenticeship with a good company that has a history of taking on apprentices and keeping them.
Don’t think your first year or two wages will be anything fancy... take any overtime offered, shows the boss you’re keen.

My dad was a lorry driver too. A mild stroke in 2001 took his HGV license though.

Which area of Scotland are you in?